Online criminals are attacking HSBC ‘all the time’, says head of bank’s UK arm

Ian Stuart tells MPs that cybersecurity is biggest expense as bank systems face scrutiny after M&S and Co-op attacks

The boss of HSBC’s UK arm has said the bank is “being attacked all the time” by online criminals, with cybersecurity now its biggest expense, costing the lender hundreds of millions of pounds.

Ian Stuart sought to reassure MPs that cybersecurity was “very much at the top of our agenda”, amid growing concerns that other large businesses could fall victim to the kind of attacks that have caused chaos at retailers such as Marks & Spencer and the Co-op.